Smokin' Cows and Smoking Humans

Source: PhysOrg PhysOrg presents an interesting article on the greatest challenge to putting people into space for extended periods of time: keeping them psychologically healthy. Scientists are using studies of people who work in submarines to develop a strategy for long-term space exploration.

Source: Popular Science Much thanks to d2leddy for bringing this to my attention. A company in Connecticut has developed a system that eliminates waste using an electrically-generated plasma. The Plasma Converter generates an internal temperature 3 times as hot as the surface of the sun to reduce most common trash into a glass-like slag and a gas consisting of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Once it has been initialized, only 2/3 of the energy generated from waste heat is required to maintain the operation, rendering the system both self-sufficient and a potential energy generator.

Source: Reuters In the "no shit, sherlock" department, researchers have proven that smoking causes long-lasting changes in the brain that are not unlike those caused by heroin and cocaine. This apparently represents a physiological confirmation that nicotine is chemically addictive, not that this will have any affect on the number of people smoking.

Source: Space.com Astronomers are searching for water on planets outside our solar system using an interesting trick. They wait for the planet to go behind the sun, build a spectral profile, then do another profile when the planet is in front of the sun. Once the sun's profile has been subtracted from the combined profile, the result should be the spectral profile of the planet. So far, they have only tested this method on Jupiter-size planets, but it may eventually be applied to smaller planets. Initial tests have indicated that there is no free water in the upper atmosphere of these gas giants, although it may be bound up deeper in the planetary atmosphere.

Source: Ananova This is more amusing than technical, but only because it is happening in another country. The Swiss Agriculture Ministry is urging farmers not to feed cannabis to cattle. Apparently this practice began because the plant is cheap and easy to grow, and the THC makes the cows happy and more productive, milk-wise. Unfortunately, THC also gets into the milk, making those who drink it, or make things like cheese from it, happy and unproductive, work-wise.